OnePlus is seeking funding from Silicon Valley to help expand

OnePlus, a China-based smartphone maker, is in talks to obtain Silicon Valley venture capital funding to help double its workforce as it boosts output. OnePlus, which offers phones at less than half the price of flagship models by Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc., plans to boost staff to 1,500 employees this year, said co-founder Carl Pei, who started the company in 2013 with six people. The smartphone maker is betting on demand for full-featured phones at mid-range prices while bidding for talent amid intensifying competition among companies including Xiaomi Corp., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co. OnePlus plans two new models for this year and aims to increase unit shipments 10-fold by next year, said Pei, 25. “We lack the experience to help us grow one step further, so we are actually in talks with VCs in the Valley,” Pei said in an interview at company headquarters in Shenzhen, China. “The most important part is access to experience and senior-level talent that will help us scale further.” He declined to give an estimate of the amount of funds to be raised or the company’s valuation.